After the "Teacher Panel" I had posted an email communicating a point of view as a professor and the coordinator of a community of individuals who had voluntarily requested to be a part of a "learning community".
There are a number of factors that contribute to being a learning community.... 1) an opportunity to reside together in close proximity to develop acquaintances and friends within the community sharing a common career goal; 2) taking some classes together to foster collaborative studying and mutual assistance; and 3) to have unique weekly programming to enhance professional development and community building/networking.
The process started with the blog during the summer to share some information and feel a part of the 2007 Education Learning Community.
The FYC and the weekly ELC programs provide opportunities and information that are not made available to other freshman education majors as an ongoing commitment of the College of Education, Health and Human Services.
A professor's position with respect to attendance is that "a student is responsible for attending all sessions of all classes and programs in which they enroll and in which there may be an assessment of the student's learning and/or participation." When part of a group or community, the group or community experience is dependent upon participating in the group or community.
Professors view studying as an important and critical activity of students. We also know that there are 168 hours in a week. You be the professor! Put yourself in my place.
Based upon the preceding, HERE IS THE BIG QUESTION....
Is studying a legitimate reason for not attending required classes or programs?
Or think about it in a little different way... you are a teacher.
You have spent several hours developing a lesson for a student who for the class period of instruction, skips it to go to a study hall to complete homework that was due yesterday. What would you do?
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19 comments:
I definitly understand where Doc. Z was coming from. If I was a teacher and I took time out of my scheldule to make up a lesson plan and then came to the class the next day and hardly anyone was there i would be upset. I understand the point of the learning community, and I love it. I think it is alot easy to have people in the same classes as me because they help me study.
I agree. If I were a teacher making up a lesson plan that took a good amount of effort and hardly anyone showed up (being well aware of what was going to go on that day) I would be pissed. It's disrespectful. Yes, there are exams on friday and other classes that you have to study for, but it was only about an hour long and the information that the teacher panel provided was really useful. They had my attention the whole time and I actually really enjoyed it.
Speaking for myself, I was pretty pissed that no one showed up last night. We all have a crap load of things to do, but it was one hour and I was embarrassed that no one came. I'm sure they were fully aware of how many people there are in the ELC, and how horrible did it look to them that only half the people showed up? I'm sure they felt welcomed. Trust me, there are a million things I could have gotten done in that hour. Like Doc Z said, we knew going in that this was our responsibility. If you all want to be teachers so badly, wouldn't you actually look forward to the meetings? Don't you want to learn what your career is going to be like for the next 30-40 years?
So to answer the question.. no!
I agree with what everyone says. I was pretty embarrassed that people didn't show up to listen to what the teachers had to say. ESPECIALLY considering that most of the people who didn't show up, to be honest weren’t studying. Sucks to be you, because you missed the best meeting, and it will affect you in the long run.
I know that it may be another hour on everyones day but it was for the teachers who came to. They took that hour like everyone else should have. Everyone there im sure had other stuff they could have been doing but still have the commitment to be there. Just like the teachers did as well. When we all become teachers are you just not going to show up cause there is something else you think you need to get done even tho your commited.I thought that it was disrespectful to have thoes teachers come to talk to us to not have more than half of us there. I learned some awesome things and i really enjoyed hearing what they had to say!
I don't believe that studying is an acceptable reason for missing a scheduled ELC activity. I view ELC as as a fun class that we all go to every Wednesday night. Would you miss a class to study for a test in another class. If you are missing a class, like ELC, you are loosing valuable information that you can not simple copy from a friend's notebook. You already have the notes you need to study for your other class, so study them before or after ELC.
Was I disappointed by the attendance at the ELC last night?
For myself, no, it really doesn't effect me one way or the other. If I was one of those teachers, than I definitely would be. To be asked to come out and speak to a group of future teachers and then seeing all those 'empty seats,' what a disappointment.
Whether someone decides to come or not is up to them. Obviously Doc Z can't stuff you in a trunk and drag you to the meeting. Trust me though, if you think no one knows who you are, you're fooling yourself. As Dr. Hutchinson said one time, the professors know who comes to class and who doesn't. Doc Z knows who comes to ELC and who doesn't.
It's interesting I was asked by the Assistant Dean, Debbie Barber, to speak to interested education majors today. I went in and the first thing she asked me was "Why was there such poor attendance at the ELC yesterday?" This is one of your Deans, whom you probably have not met yet, but she definitely has heard about you.
I really liked the class last night. I liked hearing what the teachers had to say and enjoyed listening to their experiences. However, I do know there were alot of things that all of us had to do. I think you should be your own judge. If you think you don't have to go than you should judge for yourself. I did like last night's meeting but I do feel that some of them run long and are rather unnecessary.
I am one of the students who did not go to the meeting last night but I actually had a legitimate excuse why I was not there. I was at a doctor's appointment (I have the note!) and I feel horrible that not a lot of kids came and had I known that, I probably would not have gone to my doctor's appointment. It is very disrespectful to the people that took the time to come to talk to us because WE WEREN'T THERE! It's really embarrassing that some people did not go because they were at a concert or studying or goofing off...whatever the case may be, I think everyone can spare an hour of their time. However, in our defense as well, the meetings need to be out on time because it is also disrespectful to the professors when we have class afterwards and are late because the class did not get out on time. That has been a problem for me and I feel that in both ways people need to give and take a little. I think this is a perfect example of a learning experience in the (oh my goodness...what a coincidence) learning community! We all need to get our stuff done before the meetings/classes because it really does not take a lot of time and hey, we signed up for it and pretty much knew what we were getting ourselves into and it's been fun :D I would feel the same way Doc Z feels and I really hope this does not repeat.
First of all I was one of the people who was not in attendance last night. I was feeling ill. If I had known how many people were not going to show up, I would have dragged myself out of bed. I think a lot of people who didn’t show up honestly didn’t think that they would be noticed. For the most part I think its all about sacrifices. Are you willing to sacrifice being able to do some last minute studying to go to a meeting? A meeting for a group you willing joined? I was very embarrassed that I didn’t show up last night and praise the people who did. However I think that if we are showing up to both the ELC and FYC meetings every week and the ten minutes early requested, we should be shown the curtsey of being let out on time. Its not fair for people who do show up but are let out late when they have a class after. Or for the people who may have homework or need to study and have to delay that an extra 30 minutes because class ran late. I do understand where Doc Z is coming from. I think that we have been given a great opportunity and it is disrespectful for us to take it for granted and not show up. The end
I agree with everything Doc Z is saying. I think it is very disrespectful to the teacher if a student skips "class" to study. They have an issue with time management...not the class. I think sometimes people just need to put their priorities in perspective. The ELC offers a lot of great opportunities and experiences. I am very greatful for making the decision to join.
I agree with everything that has been said.. some people think that its a waste of time or " i already have been working with kids i know how to handle it, i dont need to go listen to those teachers" but be honest with yourself, there is so much we dont know. no one can prepare for every situation that will happen in your class, but hearing how real teachers handle different things will help you be a better teacher!! i dont think studying is a good excuse.. people that were there had studying to do also and the teachers that were there had lessons to plan for the next day..
When I signed up for the ELC i was making a decision to better my chances for teaching in the future, and job selection. I was not however signing up for a class. It clearly states in our FYC syllabi that "students SHOULD also attend each wed. night ELC meeting." not that we absolutely, under no circumstances is it ever ok to miss one, must be there. I look at the ELC as helpful meetings for us to attend or not, whether we want to ask teachers questions or stay in our rooms and study is entirely up to us. I do understand that those teachers took time out of their busy schedules to come talk to us, but i didn't think that asking questions about what might happen in my future teaching career was more important then studying for a test. I've already dropped a class, a REQUIRED CLASS, for these meetings. I don't think was asking for much when i mentioned that i wouldn't be attending the meeting because i was in fact in study groups. Study groups have assigned times as well as these meetings, it's not like all those who were studying actually chose to study just during this hour. When your study group time falls in conflict with the ELC meetings you tell me which one you choose, knowing full well in you can only go during this time and the study session won't be offered again, and in the ELC we were asking professional question to a teacher board. I really don't think that all of you who are bashing those who chose to study are looking at the whole picture and you should think about that before you say something that can be taken truly offensive.
I found the ELC meeting on Wed really interesting. It was definately so far the best meeting. I think the teachers did a great job and it would have been nice if half of us would have shown up. The learning community is great and I think we all got something from this.
"should" - if you aren't in a study group and you're playing video games and watching TV, get up, throw some sweatpants on, and get your butt to the meeting.
Jen,
I'm sorry we all offended you. From what I saw, you must have been one of maybe 3 people actually studying Wednesday. I hope all your studying paid off and you did well on your exam.
Thanks Alex, I really appreciate that! I'm sorry if my last comment seemed a little aggitated. I was a little heated when i typed it and for that i appologize. I really did want to be in that meeting and i dnt want everyone to think i'm some crazy angry girl, lol. I do like the ELC and i appreciate what it can offer for us in our futures. And i'm very happy to be in it, and will be at this wednesdays meeting :)
Speaking as one of the FYC instructors, a mentor, and a former ELC member, I was embarrassed by the attendance at the last ELC meeting. I do understand that there are perfectly acceptable reasons for not attending ELC (ex- class, study group, doctor's appt), but from the information I've gathered, a majority of the people who were not at last Wednesday's meeting did NOT have an acceptable reason. I know that some of you feel that the meetings are "pointless" and "not relevant" for you--please tell me what you want! If there is something that I can do to make meetings more valuable to you, just tell me what it is, and I'll try my hardest to make it happen. Believe it or not, a lot of effort goes into what we plan for you guys, and it hurts when all I hear (or sense) is that you don't care or think it's stupid. I'm not attacking or accusing anyone, I'm just trying to figure out what's going wrong here. The community is for you guys and I want it to matter to you.
I definitly think that missing a class becaue you need to study is not a legitimate excuse. I understand completely how Doc Z feels in this reguard. These teachers take time out of their busy days to come talk to us and tell us things that are usually very useful.
We all signed up to be a part of the ELC and I love the concept of it. We get so many oppurtunities comming into this program that many people dont have so taking advantage of comming to meetings for an hour a week is necessary.
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